Page 8 Portland Observer, May 27, 1982
OBSERVATIONS
FROM THE SIDELINES
The four lives o f Ira Daniel M um
ford flow together in one great
stream o f energy in his powerful six-
foo t-tw o body. H e ’ s a busy man,
that Mumford. And yet he can take
time for a personal touch.
The kids call him the “ 4 -H
M a n ,” parishioners at the C .M .E .
Smith missionary chapel call him
“ the Rev. M u m fo rd ,” music a ffi-
cianaods know him as one o f the
orig in al ‘ ‘ M ills B ro th ers,” M rs.
Lydia M um ford calls him husband
and 17-year-old Ire tta calls him
••D ad."
In a day he is here, he is there, al
ways in demand, working with peo
ple for people, helping and encour
aging the young, inspiring the not-
so-young.
Born in North Carolina, the mid
dle child in a family of eight, Ira has
always been in the middle of "things
going o n ” and in the m iddle o f
music. Both m other and fath er
played piano and several brothers
and sisters played piano. Ir a was
elected to play the drums and sing.
They, as a group, were in demand to
sing and play in churches and at so
cial gatherings and, said Ira , “ We
were the first black group to sing
over D u rh am ’ s W D N C radio sta
tio n ."
Good musical perform ance re
quires a certain amount of self-disci
pline and the Mum ford children ap
parently had impetus supplied in the
right direction for this. M u m fo rd
chuckles as he says, “ I was the best
M other had. She gave me plenty o f
discipline— orders to stay in my own
backyard and not to play w ith all
the other kids playing out front, or
whippings (I got lots o f thm) until 1
learned how to discipline m yself.
Mother did most o f the chastising as
our fath er was usually away at
work. He was the chef for 41 years
at the hospital in town.
" W e always ate w e ll, and 1
learned to cook from my dad. N o
strict recipes, but just good whole
some food with good seasonings. I
cook for my family quite often now
and am mindful o f the salt to keep it
at a m inim um . M y specialties are
Southern fried chicken and a real
good potato salad.
"L a te r 1 spent several years sing
ing with the original M ills Brothers
and with the original Ink Spots too.
1 sang all the parts— whichever ones
were needed.
" I came to the Northwest first in
1952 as an entertainer with the Rival
Brothers. We landed in W alla Walla
and wound up in Eugene and came
to Portland from there. 1 was grow
ing tired o f the travel involved and
settled myself with a singing group
we called the Carmenaires. We were
featured for several years at C a r
men's restaurant.
“ L a te r on I w orked as C h ie f
Counsellor for David M . Nero, Jr.,
when his company, Nero and Asso
ciates, In c ., had 25 employees. 1
helped the jobless men fit into their
new employment patterns and kept
in touch w ith management to help
smooth out labor problems as they
arose.
" F o r nine years I was a consumer
educational specialist for P M S C —
and. since 1974,1 have been with the
Oregon State Extension Service as
an extension agent.
" I'm enthused over the 4 -H pro
gram located over at King N eigh
borhood Center. We offer classes in
arts and crafts, cooking, sewing, the
martial arts, and yes, we have a 4-H
Choral Ensemble. The ensemble will
sing a capptIla again this year. We
have travelled all over Oregon with
the c h o ir and in to C a lifo rn ia . I
started w ith 26 children who had
never sung together, most o f them
were strangers to each other, their
ages varied from 11 years to 19 years
and they came from various races
and sectors o f the community. They
were thrilled to hear the first o f their
tapes I made o f their performance
and now they have learned to be
critical and really appreciate their
performance and their progress.
“ W e started a tutoring class for
reading back in November ’81 with
the help o f D r. B ill G erald o f the
Portland Public Schools. This was
my class, a small class with kids out
o f the 5th grade who could read
only at the 2nd grade level. Now in
M a y those same kids have raised
their reading level to the 6th grade.
I ’m so proud o f them.”
The oldest person ever to win the Academy Award
for acting was George Burns for his perform ance in
"Sunshine Boys"—at the age of 80.
•
Strangely, the brother of a man w ho shot a U .S .
President is in the Hall of Fame for Great Americans.
Edwin Booth, a great actor, is in the Hall of Fame. His
brother, John Wilkes booth, was the man who shot
Abraham Lincoln.
•
The 17-year locust is not a locust at all, but a
cicada.
W e do not do buaineaa w ith South Africa.
American State
Bank AN INDEPENDENT BANK
Head Office
27 37 N. E. Union
Portland, Oregon 97212
IR A M U M F O R D
M u m fo rd ’ s face glowed w ith
pleasure th in kin g o f those happy
confident children who had applied
themselves and accom plished so
much for themselves in a few short
months. “ W e need volunteers who
will give their time to teach crafts,
or anything worthwhile that we can
fit into our program s,” M u m fo rd
said.
The ministry o f this tireless man
also reaches out from the pulpit at
Sm ith C h ap el, a sm all mission
Mum ford opened three years ago in
N .E . Portland. The mission is a ffili
ated w ith A lle n T em ple o f the
C .M .E . Church. A t Smith Chapel,
Iretta M um fo rd is pianist and also
sings soprano in the c h o ir. M rs.
M um ford is president o f the Ladies
M issionary Society, rounding out
the participation o f the total family
in Sunday Service.
The 4 -H man surfaced again as
M u m fo rd thought o f “ his k id s ”
and the com ing summer vacation
period looming nearer. He recalled
that "last year I had 161 kids in the
program and I didn't have one nick
el to work with. The budget crunch
for us was early and complete.
“ I went to C ity C om m issioner
Charles J o rd a n ,” M u m fo rd said,
"and 1 begged his help. Jordan gave
me a van to transport the kids from
place to place. The use o f the van
had council a p p ro v a l, and then 1
went to the Downtown Kiwanis and
they gave me money for arts and
crafts supplies. A number o f m er
chants and business people in the
N .E . section o f P o rtlan d gave me
miscellaneous supplies. We used the
school’ s cafeteria and the gym na
sium and we had a program after
all.
"T h e kids always enjoy the sum
mer program and a lot o f them cry
when at the end o f the season they
have to part. This year we will have
three bilingual students to help us in
our program . I t ’ s free and all are
welcome.”
“ June 28 is reg istratio n tim e,
K ing N eighborhood Center is the
place,” reminds M um ford, the 4-H
man.
MRS. C’s Z z«y
WIGS
N
Betty Cabine. Proprietor
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R»y 32“
PSU holds African Cultural Night
The Association o f A frica n Stu
dents at Portland State University is
holding its T h ird A n nu al A fric a n
C u ltu ra l N ig h t. The A fric a n C u l
tural Night is an annual event held
in honor of the founding o f the O r
ganization o f African Unity (O A U )
in May 1963.
A ll independent African countries
are members o f the O A U , with the
exception o f the racist regime o f
South Africa. The main objective o f
the O A U is the total lib eratio n o f
African countries from the yoke o f
colonialism. M oreover, it is deter-
mined to accelerate the economic in
tegration and the unification o f the
continent o f Africa.
The Association o f A frica n Stu
dents at PSU is taking this oppor
tu n ity to bring closer contact be
tween the continent o f A fric a and
the people o f the Northwest, and at
the same time to educate the people
o f .Oregon about the role o f A frica
in world affairs today. T o accom
plish these objectives they are pre
senting the African Cultural Night.
The event will take place on F ri
day evening. M a y 28, 1982 at the
Portland State University Ballroom
(S m ith M e m o ria l C en ter, Room
355). The programme will start at 7
p.m. Admission is S3; $2.50 for stu
dents. The programme will feature
the follow ing: D in n er (fo o d from
various
A fric a n
countries);
Speakers (Am bassador Legw aila,
Botswana Ambassador to the U N ,
and Ronnie H erndon, co-chairman
o f the Black United Front); Cultural
dances and music (O C H E A M I, Obo
A d d y ). Also included in the p ro
gram will be a fashion show, poetry
reading and lots more.
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